Top 10 Insight Timer Meditations for Mothers

After years of restless monkey mind attempts, I’ve finally cemented a daily meditation habit I wouldn’t want to live without. I owe it all to the free Insight Timer Meditation app.

I wrote about my trial of several meditation apps here. Insight Timer meditations quickly won me over and my app stats show that in the past 12 months I’ve done 412 meditation sessions! I’m kind of a stats geek and not wanting the counter to return to zero is what initially motivated me to keep going. Now I do it because I love the new voice in my head that helps me to be a nicer person to myself and others.

I love to wake up in the morning to ‘beditate’ without even getting out from under the cozy covers.

The best thing about Insight Timer meditations are the vast choice of guided recordings of varying lengths and themes. Rather than one voice – there are males and females in many accents and styles, with or without background music. It’s like reading a few pages from an inspiring personal growth book every single day and becoming a better version of me with each short session. I’m doing a lot less future tripping and past looping as I learn to live more in the present moment.

There’s also a unique sense of community. When you complete a meditation it shows you a map of how many other people were meditating with you all over the world. That number keeps increasing as more people are discovering the app.

I’ve started a Project Me for Busy Mothers group within the app where we share our favourite meditations – there are hundreds of us there now. Come and join in by going to ‘Groups’ then searching for Project Me for Busy Mothers.

Here’s my compiled list of specific meditations that target the emotions we often feel asmothers. Anger, frustration, self-doubt, anxiety, low moods. I’ve also included some wonderful guided visualisations to help you to manifest your dreams and goals.

It was super challenging to narrow it down to 10, but doing the research (or shall I say me-search!) was fun. I do love my ‘job’. Here are the ones that have made the final cut and the reasons why I love them.

My Top 10 Insight Timer Meditations for Busy Mothers

Five Minutes of Self-Compassion by Lisa Abramson. (Which is actually only 4 mins, 15 seconds) If you’re beating yourself up about something like shouting at your child or not handling a situation well, this meditation reminds you that everyone finds it tough some days and to forgive yourself. Simple affirmations give you a positive pep talk so you can re-group and start again. Lock yourself in the bathroom for 4 short minutes. It’ll save a bad moment from spiraling into a bad day.

Morning Meditation by Bethany Auriel-Hagen (6 mins) When I can barely lift my head off of the pillow, I press play on this one. Stretching and breathing for a few short minutes infuses me with positive energy which I then pour onto my kids. No more mean mama at breakfast! If you’re still twiddling on social media on your phone in the mornings – stop that right now and tap the Insight Timer app instead. It’s a much better way to kick-start your day.

Just for Today by Tom Evans (10 mins) A perfect one for beginners. How you start your day sets the tone for the rest of it. Sit or lie down, breathe and soak in Tom’s simple guidance about gratitude, random acts of kindness, and letting go. I used Tom’s meditation Getting In The Zone a lot as I was writing my book to get me into a super focused state of mind. He’s the only man to have joined our Project Me group in the app! We all love his meditations.

SOS for Anxiety by Mary Maddux. (12 mins) This quickly took my stress and anxiety levels from sky-high to neutral. I did it just before my husband got home from work and it single handedly saved our Friday night – and possibly our entire weekend. Mary has 17 meditations in this app on topics ranging from anger, stress, patience, loneliness, and sleep meditations for adults and children.

Releasing Frustration by David Gandleman (14 mins) is perfect if you’re in an energy draining situation, such as feeling angry with your child, partner, boss, or frustrated about something not going the way you want it to. David has a light-hearted, charming approach to his guided meditations that’ll make you smile. He teaches us how to understand ourselves better so we can learn, grow and fully let go. I love David’s many recordings, including I Can’t Sleep Meditation and Getting Up On The Wrong Side of The Bed.

Soul Gardening: Begin to Cultivate a Life You Love (12 mins) This one is in complete alignment with what I teach in my online goal setting program. Think of a goal or dream you’d love to come true. Start with ‘I AM’, write down your goal in the present tense as if it’s already your reality, really FEEL how it will be, create a vision board of pictures that support your goal. Use a notebook immediately following this meditation to capture your thoughts. I love it!

Positive Outcomes Meditation (15 mins) What is it that you want? Does it feel confusing and out of reach – or are you excited about it? This meditation encourages you to explore one positive outcome you desire and to fully visualise it coming to life. You’ll experience what it will feel like if it worked out just the way you want it to. I’m a big believer in the power of visualisation and this meditation takes you by the hand and makes it easy for you to do. Have a notebook handy to capture the ideas that will flow to you afterwards about what steps you can take to have that beautiful outcome you desire.

Discovering Your Intrinsic Selfby Sarah Blondin (12 mins). All of Sarah’s meditations are like having a gorgeous poem read out loud to yourself by your own higher soul. Simply close your eyes and absorb the truth in her words. This one especially speaks to those who’re feeling deeply low as she inspires you to practice gentle kindness to yourself. Explore all of Sarah’s beautiful offerings as at least one of them will speak to you personally. Our Soul’s Expansion is for anyone going through a tough time. It’s incredibly soothing and hopeful.

The True Nature of Awareness by Eckhart Tolle. (12 mins) As a fan of Eckhart and his books, his quirkiness puts a silly smile on my face. This meditation has the ability to put me into a state of present state awareness incredibly fast. There is no background music and plenty of moments of silence – all of which could be an invitation for my monkey mind to kick to into gear, yet I’m hypnotized within the first minute. I love how playfully gentle my thoughts are afterwards.

Midday “All Is Well” Meditation by Angela Kontgen (5 mins) This will help you hit the re-set button if you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed as the day progresses. I did this one in the car outside of school to get me back into a loving, connected state when I collected my kids in the afternoon. She knows how to breathe you back down into calmness. Breathing is always the solution. There’s another called Quickie Reset by Bex Urban to restore calm and peace in five minutes.

Check out the playlist of meditations for mothers, including for during pregnancy and breastfeeding. I’ve even spotted one for morning sickness and another for headaches! Metta for Momsby Renee Bond (9 mins) is a sweet mama ‘time-out’ for making space in our hearts for our children and ourselves. Either sitting or lying down, repeat these gentle affirmations to yourself. Embrace your challenges alongside your joys.

There are plenty of Insight Timer meditations specifically for children and teenagers too. A child who grows up with a mother who meditates with and without them would understand it as a way of life. What an amazing gift for both of you.

How to find and use the app:

Go to wherever you download any app on your smartphone. Search for Insight Timer Meditations and download. It’s FREE and always will be.

Set up your profile (keep it simple in the beginning so this doesn’t hold you up.)

Join the Project Me for Busy Mothers group and say hi! I’ll love to see you there.

How can you remember to use the app when it’s not a habit yet? TOP TIP: Park the app on the homepage of your smartphone. Move your social media apps to the second page. Resist the temptation to go into autopilot and get caught up in a mindless time suck. Use the stats in Insight Timer and set yourself a consecutive-days goal!

Please use the social media share buttons here to spread the word about Insight Timer. In the comments below, let us know if you’ve got a meditation habit already and how it’s benefiting you. If you’re not meditating yet, share your thoughts and let me know if you have any questions. Peace & love to you, busy mamas. Kelly xx

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I love insight timer. I started using it since you recommended it. I use it everyday sometimes more than once. It helps me start my morning right and when I have a challenge or need a break during the day, I find a meditation that will help me regroup. I also like using it when going to sleep. I love all the meditations you have recommended in your group. I also like the sense of community that it provides. I find the podcasts useful as well. Thank you Kelly for all your wonderful ideas and support to keep a healthy, happy, positive and balance day to day.

With four kids I always think I’m too busy to stop and meditate, but you are inspiring me here. I will give it a try because I need to learn how to be more calm and not let things get on top of me so badly. Thanks for all that you do to help! I always feel inspired by you.

I get it Becky and I’m happy you’re going to give it a go! No matter how busy I think I am, I never regret doing even a one minute meditation to regroup. In the search bar type in 1 Minute or One Minute to find a whole selection. I love anything by Robin Rice.

I’ll also recommend this super short (2 mins 32 seconds) poem that I love. Search for Poem: She Let Go. It’s John Siddique reading out a simple, whimsical poem that puts a smile on your face as you…. let go. sigh.

Let me know how you get on. Hope to see you in the Project Me group in the app xx

I tried Headspace but didn’t really like it. This one sounds good that there are many voices to choose from and themes. I used to think that to meditate I had to empty my mind which is impossible most days! I will get this app and join your group. See you there 🙂

I felt the same way about Headspace. I wanted to love it because so many others do, but – nope.

With Insight Timer I’m like a kid in a candy store as I choose my daily hit from meditations I’ve bookmarked or by going to the Featured Playlists for themes such as mindfulness, gratitude, emotional balance and relaxation.

A lot of people still think meditation is only about sitting cross-legged on the floor while trying to keep a blank mind. The guided meditations in this app have shown me that it’s about slowing down, not extinguishing, thoughts. When we learn how to slow down and witness our thoughts in meditation, we can begin to do this in our every day life. This makes us much calmer and peaceful.

Morning Kelly! As you know, I’ve become an Insight Timer addict ever since you recommended it on here. I love most of the ones on your list, but am excited to see a couple I’ve not tried yet. Yippee! Going to get my fix right now! Thanks for doing what you do, Kelly. Keep shining brightly! Besitos.

Ahhhh – when I pressed publish on this post I was thinking of you and wondering what you’d think of my list! As you know, the choices are ENDLESS and I could have easily made it a list of 20 or 30+….. I always love connecting with you in Insight Timer Louisa and seeing how often we meditate together. I often click on whatever meditation you’ve done and add it to my bookmarks if I’ve not tried it, so some of the above I probably got from you! Besos xx

Hey Kelly, its taken me a while to get to leaving a comment but I am so grateful to you and the project me mum’s that raved about Insight Timer. I LOVE it and think of it as a friend already – I’ve been evangelical about it too telling friends, family and colleagues about it – my stepdaughter is also finding it very helpful on a daily basis and I found a lovely sleep app for my younger girls (angels of sleep) that seems to help them fall asleep happy on the days they can’t seem to fall asleep by themselves. Huge thanks from me. K xx

I’m absolutely delighted that you’re enjoying Insight Timer so much Kathryn – and that you are now spreading the word to everyone you meet, just like I do! The more this spreads, the more peace there will be in the world. 🙂 xx

[…] Me Time. As my husband leaves for work very early, I stay under the covers and ‘beditate’ to a guided meditation app, then write in my journal. Fifteen minutes no longer feels like enough time, so I now wake up half […]